Gone home sam locker2/18/2023 ![]() ![]() The New Orleans Saints hadn’t posted a winning record in its nearly 20-year history when Mills and Mora joined the team in 1986.īefore their arrival, the Saints allowed nearly 25 points per game in 1985. One of the largest beneficiaries of the league folding would be the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, who signed Mills and his Stars’ teammate Vaughan Johnson.įormer Stars’ head coach Jim Mora also made the jump from the USFL to the Saints. The Stars won two USFL Championships led by their “Doghouse Defense” that Mills highlighted.Ī bout of legal and financial struggles among the league’s teams caused it to fold after the 1985 season. Mills earned All-USFL Honors in each of his three seasons with the Stars, who moved to Baltimore in 1985. The 24-year-old Mills made an immediate impact on the Stars and was viewed as one of the team’s best players. “But, the elephants wanted nothing to do with him.” “He was a mouse running around a field of elephants,” Peterson said in Jeff Pearlman’s book Football For A Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL. Mills quickly earned the nickname “Field Mouse”, a focus on his diminutive size. Sam Mills LB Philadelphia Stars #USFL #PhiladelphiaStars #FOOTBALL #Philadelphia #NFL /SoZKddbKte Rutigliano reached out to an old friend in the USFL to suggest Mills gets a shot in the upstart league.Ĭarl Peterson, general manager of the Philadelphia Stars, reached out and brought Mills in for a chance to make the roster. He returned to New Jersey and taught photography and assisted with the football team at East Orange High School. ![]() convinced Browns coach Sam Rutigliano to give Mills a shot.Īs Mills had been told throughout his football life, Rutigliano decided he was too small to compete at the NFL level and cut him.Īfter a failed attempt to make the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts, it looked like the pro football dream for Mills might be over. The opportunity came when Pop Warner Football coach Thomas Bevacqui Jr. His height once again became a barrier that he’d need to overcome.Īfter going undrafted, Mills received a chance on an NFL roster with the Cleveland Browns. “People may have doubted him saying he was ‘too small,’ but because of his perseverance, he was able to overcome all the obstacles.”Ī handful of school records and regional recognition weren’t enough to get Mills drafted to the NFL when he graduated college in 1980. “He’s the best football player we’ve ever had here,” Giancola said. Longtime Montclair State coach Rick Giancola told The Montclarion about Mills’ perseverance as a college athlete. When his college career ended, Mills posted two school records that still stand to this day: most tackles in a career (501) and most tackles in a game (22). Montclair State Football August 6, 2022 ![]() The man who taught us all to #KeepPounding is finally in Canton! /b7KmxzAf3T He walked on to the Division-III football program in 1977 and made a quick impact on the field.Īfter his freshman season, Mills earned his first of four New Jersey Athletic Conference All-Star Team honors.īy the end of his sophomore season, Mills was noted as the best defensive player in New Jersey by the State’s Collegiate Writers and accumulated records for the Red Hawks. Mills stayed close to home and attended Montclair State College. He held his own on the football field, but his 5’9” frame did not draw much attention from scouts. While attending Long Branch High School, Mills won District Championships for Wrestling in 19. His determination to hang with bigger kids drew him to the football field and wrestling mat. Mills was the youngest child of Juanita and Sam Mills Sr.ĭuring his childhood, Mills tagged along with his older brother and got used to being the smallest kid in sports. was born June 3, 1959, in Neptune City, New Jersey. ![]()
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